Improvement in machines for punching paper for telegraphic purposes



NITE@ STATES ALEXANDE@ 13A-mon NEW YORK, N. Y., AssiGNon To WM. H. ALLEN,l on

sAMErLAcE.'

- Speciication formingpart of Letters Patent No. 43,6IS, dated July 19, 1864.

-To dll whom it may concern: I' l Be it known that LALEXANDER BAIN, of

. the city and State of'New- York,'have invented, made, and applied to use ,a certain newv and useful improvement-in means for perforating strips of' paper orother material to be employed in the transmission ot telegrapdhic messages,

, Src.; andI do'herebyvdec'lare the following to I. be a full, clear,and exact description ot' the said invention, reference bein g-had tothe annexed 4part 'ot' this specitication,

Fignre'l is a plan ot' my improvement. Fig, 2 -is a sideele-vation ofv the sanne. A Fig. v3 is a side view of the finger-key.` Fig. 4 is a similar View of the punching apparatus.- Fig. -5 is a vfront elevation, and Fig. Gis a'detached ele-v Vvation, ofthe disks that draw the vstrips of A 'paper or other-material along.

' @Similarmarks of reference indicate the same i parts in all the figures. v

In Letters Patent granted to me on the 17 th 1 day of April, A. D. 1849, a mode is shown ofl transmitting telegraphic signals by electric pulsations by means of a metallic comb and. roller Iin the telegraphic circuit, 1between which a perforated.strip1 of paper was drawn along, the paper breaking the circuit and the 'perforation' allowing a metallic contact yfor i completing su'ch circuit, thereby causing the tramsmission of pulsations of greater or Iess extent; with interruptions to such pulsations of a, longer or shorter period, according to the signs representing letters and words punched or perforated in the strip of paper. y

The nature of my'present invention consists of an improved.'` mechanism for perforating vstrips-of paper or otnermaterial in such-a manner as to form short or long openings, and .with a greater or less distance between those ',perforations,saidperforated strips of material being especially adapted to the transmission ,of telegraphic pulsations; but my apparatus is on the fulcrum t at one end and guided near the other end by the standard 5. v

. 6 is a'pin or stud on this lever e, that-is taken by' a bent l'ever1atch', e", on the standard.

5. When the lever e is raisedso as to strain the band l the latch c', taking under the pin y or stud 6 in the lever-o, sustains the shaft d in its working position for drivingthe other parts ofthe machine-5 but when thebentlever e is -raised so as to unlatch the pin orstud 16 the leverc descends, asl represented in red linesin Fig. 2, the extent of motion` being determined by a screw and slot, '02. This lowers that endot' the shaft d and 'allows of the wheel c -and shaft a to continue their rotation Without movin g the other p artsof the machine,'and the band 1, heilig' thus loose, is not sustained or- Zinjured. By this arrangement the shaft a may extend along beneath several machines and4 be revolved by manual, steam, or any .other power, and each operator throws his machine ,A

in or out of gear at pleasure.

The shaft dis connected by a coupling orl sleeve 7 lto the shaft f, sustained atthe other en d in the bearing 8; and gis a ily-wheel onthis shaft, toequalize the movement of the parts.

hy is a small eccentric on d, taking the rodi and t" is -a'small screw passing through the large end ofthe rod fand the point entering a small groove aroundthe periphery ofthe ecv centric to retain the rod in position.. Theen'd of the rod slides through asupport, 9on the bed ot the machine. l

k is a punch sliding` in supports l0 and 11 on x,- and the cutting end of this punch k is of a size and shape corresponding to the smallest perforation 4required in the paper; and lis aA steel-'plate die corresponding therewith, which plate is attachedV by screws 12 to the block m,

the holes in whichv block m, passing the screws .12, are slightly larger than the screws, so as to allow ot' anaccurate adjustment of'the die l by Ventering the point of the punch 7J into such dio previous tos'crewing up the screws 12,/as the punch L' must work without the possibility lof l sticking inthe dic, and at thesamc time make a clean perforation 1n the strip of paper or other lmaterialp (see red line) that is passedbetween thedic land a small metal guide-plate, 13. A hole larger thanthe punch is made inv this guide-plate, to pass said punch freely. A spring,

at the other end by a bush in the lever o, that I2, tends to keep the punch k away from the die l, and an arm, 15, connected to the eccentric-rod i, and taking behind a pin, 23, through the end of k, insures the drawing back of the punch under all circumstances, and prevents it remaininglin the die, in consequence of 'any' fibers of papers that may wedge therein.

The eccentric-roda'. canv vibrate without act-1 ing upon the punch 7c, because thek end of said rod i is not long enough to reach such punch.I

Hence, if the interposer be introduced and immediately withdrawn, a small perforation .will be produced; and ifitremain between the parts while the punch makes several strokes, the perforation will be'elongated by the series of perforations cuttinginto each other, and the strip of material being drawn along by a regular' feed motion, it is in the power of the operator to produce or allow of any desired distance between the perforations or groups o f perforations,:so as to produce the desired characters for telegraphic transmission by the association of dots,- lines, or flashesl and spaces. l

The interposer aforesaid may be actuated by any suitable mechanism. I have, however, represented the saine as fitted to a finger-key, so that the same may be worked similarly to a telegraphic instrument.

n is a finger-key on the axis 16, with the regulating screws 17 and 1S and spring 19 of any usual character.

20 is a'stud at the end of the key, receiving the arm o',- and 22 is a spring on the side of a, takinga projection, 21, from o.

o is the interposer upon aspring (see dotted lines) that is attached on the under side of o. If the fngerkey is depressed when the rod i is projected toward the punch, the spring carrying the interposer will vbend until the rodi draws back, when the interposer, springing between the rod and punch, causes the next stroke Aof the eccentric-rod to effect the punch#V ing 'of the strip of material, the interposer o and arm o vibrating` on the Stud 20 as the eccentric rod and punch reciprocate. rlhe in terposer o is formed with a rise or ange (see Fig. 4) that remains in contact with the 'punch k by the action of the spring 22. v

I have represented a variation in the mode by which the vibrating eccentric-rod i? cannbeI applied to move the punch. In this the eccen.y tric-rod il is sustained by and vibrates throughy an arm, o2, on the'finger-keya, so that when said key is not depressedl the eccentricrod vibrates below the end of the punch, as seen in Fig. 7, and does not act on the same; but when the key is depressed the end of the eccentric-rod is brought on line with the punch k' and causes the vibration thereof, the same as the punch k. The parts receiving the said punch and the die at the end thereof are to be of the character heretofore. set forth. It will be seen that either of these keys can be employed, as most convenient. The parts of this modification of the punch and key not otherwise mentioned correspond with those heretofore described with the other key. If desired to sharpen the punch, it maybe done `by grinding the endo' dat, and for convenience the punch and its stock maybe turned into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, so that said punch maybe withdrawn without taking anything apart. y y

The' strip of .material p is on a reel, q, snstained by a stud, 21; and Ir is a friction-clamp applied-to said reeltoregulate the tension upon the paper as drawn olif. This clamp ris on afulcrnm, 25, on x; ands is a springfrom the-end of the clamp 1' to the cord 26, thatcan'. i

be wound on the rod 27 by the button tfto increase the frictionofythe clamp r and the consequent'tension on the paper. This tension on the 'papercauses the die to cut `the perforal4 tions much better. i

The strip of paper is drawn along by the following means vA worm, 28, on the shaft f gives motion to a wheel, u, on a shaft, e, sus tained in suitable bearings, and carrying a disk, w, onVv a sleeve, rotated by a pin and slot,

30,and kept toward a horizontal wheel, y, by a spring, 29. The face of this disk w, is roughened,and the wheel y comes incontacttherelwith above its center, so that the paper, passing between the wheel yand diskvw, will be drawn. along graduallyland according to the distance between the center of the disk w and the point of contact'of y therewith, so ythe motion ofthe perforated material will be faster or slower; and to prevent the paper being worked out from between .the'disks by theirA motion the point of contactofw andy should not be exactly over the center of the disk, but very slightly'toward the descending side of the disk '10,so that the tendency is to carry the edge of the paper toward the shaft 'v and prei ventits escaping. g

It may be necessary to stop the. revolution of the shaft d immediately upon moving the lever-.latch e', to effect which I make use of a` tooth, d', that comes in contact, when the sh\aft d is lowered, with the stud q', but revolves clear of said stud when the shaft d is raised by the lever e.- A f y r .Togprevent the iiy-wheel g 4being injured or injuring thevparts by its momentum, I allow l the hub thereof to be loose on the shaft f, and

use a spring, j", to press the said hub against the fixed' collar fz on said shaft, thereby driving the ily-wheel by friction,which allows the said iiy-wheel to -move after the shafts d and f have been stopped.

ters Patent, is-' i 1. The arrangement of the shaft d, leverV e, and latch e', to canse the band -1 from the mo-V IVhat I claim, and desire to secureby Leti speciled,' whereby the erate by depressing the key, substantially as tive power to be operative or inoperative, as set forth.

2. A reciprocating rod actuated by an eccentric or its equivalent, in 4combination with 'a punch and mechanism, substantially as specified, for causing the eccentric-rod to be operati-ve or inoperative ou the punch. substan- 1 tiall y as set forth.

3. Thecombination of a linger-key, a punch, and reciprocating mechanism, substantially as punch is made to opset forth.

4. The springclanip r applied to the paperf reel, for thepurposes and asspecied.

5.y 4The disk `w and wheel g/,a'pplied, as speciled, for drawing along the strip of paper or similar material, as set forth.

6. The tooth d and" stop q applied :to the shaft d, for the purposes and as specified.

7. withdrawing the" punch by apositive movement derived from the reciprocating mechanism through the agency of the arm 15' and ALEXR. BAIN.

Witnesses:

LEMUEL W. SERRELL, CHAs. H. SMITH. 

